A former family physician, Jan writes romantic fiction with hope, humor, and healing.

Introduction to a Special Week

Dear Reader: I have urgent need to correct a few misunderstandings. Last week, as part of ongoing efforts to ensure quality control at this blog, I posed a question to the Twitterverse: “What are the pros and cons of using a post rating system on a website?” Like this:

A straightforward question, yes? Yet the response I received utterly astonished me.

One individual – a regular reader of this blog, I am sorry to say – tweeted back, “Ugh. I don’t think so… You need something else to really get your insecurities going, LOL?”

?!!????…?….! ?

I know, I know. That was my first response too.

How could I be so misunderstood, my very essence so…maligned? True, my posts last week might have hinted at hypo-mania. (I believe the words “lunatic ravings of a Tasmanian Devil slathered in itching powder” might have been used.) But that was sleep-lust talking, people. Pure exhaustion.

If you don’t believe me, I tell you what: You try being a mother/poet/jelly-maker/pet-walking vacuum cleaner-cleaner/chauffeur, all on 3-4 hours sleep per night, then write a blog post under those circumstances. Let’s see how judgy you’re feeling then, m’kay?

Wait.

Hold on.

I am so, so sorry.

It occurs to me those words might come off a smidgeon defensive. So let’s start again, shall we? And let me reassure you I’m uttering the rest of this post in a gentle, kind, kindly-gentle voice.

I blog under the pseudonym “hope”. *spreads hand in appealing gesture* Would anyone who chooses such a noble title for herself be in any way anxious? Paranoid?

Neurotic?

Oh-ho! I thought you’d find that to be a knee-slapper too. *insert chortle* (Those of you not laughing in the back, I’m onto you, and don’t forget I have your IP address.)

To be fair, I can’t entirely blame Glinda. She has a good heart.* Her ignorance could only exist in an information vacuum of my own making. Had she been granted better insight into my character, she could never have been led astray.

That’s why I have a special treat for you all. The theme for the week:

Me.

Isn’t that fantastic? Follow me around for the week; get to know my husband, my family… It’s all Tart, all fun, all the time. 🙂

But that’s for tomorrow. Right now, I’d like to know more about you. Have you ever been as misunderstood as I? As wounded about other people’s misperceptions of you? And since I have no effing idea what to do for two more posts, now that I’ve declared my intentions, any suggestions?

Please?

*She’s also a brick to permit this post, the only person to respond to my question, and oh yeah — absolutely right. 😉

Do I ever know what you mean! The one thing about facebook for me is worrying about how things I say could be misconstrued. Thank god for little hearts and winky-faces. Now if you’ll exscuse me, I have to google “Sexy men” before I have breakfast. 😉

I’m not cruel enough to show you the result I get that appalls me so. You all are going to have to take my word on the squick factor.

Bookewymre – love your username, btw – you might not want to hang around here, then. In proximity to the Tart, laser-sharp precision with words tends to become more…fuzziest. I’d hate to corrupt you. 😉

Jess, the reason you look like an angry pentagon is that you secretly harbor homicidal tendencies in your pointy head. (Look in the mirror right now if you don’t believe me.)

Seriously, WordPress generates avatars on the basis of your IP address. You want to get rid of your Pentagon? Then you can: 1. Move 2. Go to a public library or internet cafe to post, or 3. Which is *somewhat* easier than 1 or 2, get a Google ID, load it with an image, and when you sign a comment, use your Google ID to do it. That’s how Stephanie manages to look like a be-u-tiful flower when she comments here.

I am far less misunderstood with face-to-face conversations since my body language and expression do all the talking when my emotions are involved.

People often don’t know how to take me if their first encounter with me is strictly through text. I think others have a problem determining 1. if I am being serious 2. when I am musing aloud (or, umm, through text) verses actually speaking directly to them.

My sense of humor is often misunderstood. People seem to not appreciate the finer points of understated sarcasm with a dash of morbidness. Eh, their loss.

Glinda, thanks for the info on the Gravatar site. Does it work any place other than WordPress? For some reason I had trouble accessing that function.

Jody, are you still googling, lol?

Skin and Glinda, I’ve often wondered if I should have a standard clause to issue before I speak — or in this case, write. “Unless otherwise specified, the originator of this communication is attempting to be ironic, self-mocking, and humorous. Emphasis on the word “attempting”.

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Welcome!

My name is Jan O'Hara. I'm a recovering family doc and a present-day hope-peddler. In both my fiction and non-fiction, I like to explore stories about healing in a tone that moves from wackadoodle to heartfelt in 6 seconds flat. For more information about me, including a formal biography, go here.

One man. One woman. Fifty-one boisterous seniors in the Canadian Rockies.